Famed Filmmaker — a Five-Time Oscar Nominee — Dead at 84

A filmmaker whose resume included acclaimed films spanning the 1960s through the 1990s has died. Variety reports that Paul Mazursky, the director of "An Unmarried Woman," "Harry and Tonto," "Bob & Carol & Ted & Alice" and "Moscow on the Hudson," among others, died Monday of cardiac arrest at a Los Angeles hospital. He was 84.

While he never won an Academy Award, Mazursky was a part of five Oscar nominations, including two in 1979 — for best picture and best writing, both for "An Unmarried Woman." He also had writing nominations for "Bob & Carol & Ted & Alice" in 1970, "Harry and Tonto" in 1974 and "Enemies: A Love Story" in 1990.

Early in his career he worked in television, sharing in Emmy nominations for writing for "The Danny Kaye Show" in 1964 and 1966.

Mazursky was also an actor, appearing in recent years on "Curb Your Enthusiasm" and "The Sopranos."

"Mazursky at his best captured the spirit of the late ’60s and the ’70s, when the American moral climate was turned on its head," the Variety report notes. "His films entertainingly explored such weighty issues as marital fidelity, the merits of psychological therapy and modern divorce: 'Bob and Ted,' starring Robert Culp and Natalie Wood as a 'liberated' married couple; 'Blume in Love,' starring George Segal and Susan Anspach and focusing on the nature of romantic commitment; 'Harry and Tonto,' starring Art Carney and focusing on the modern family and approaching old age; the more personal 'Next Stop, Greenwich Village'; and his most popular film, 'An Unmarried Woman,' with Jill Clayburgh and Alan Bates, about divorce in the feminist era."

Mazursky made one of his last public appearances back in February, accepting lifetime achievement honors from the Writers Guild.